


Saved

by sonictrowel



Series: Long Night in the Blue House [80]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Angst and Feels, F/M, Gen, Plot, idek, suspense!, tension!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 19:34:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11766879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonictrowel/pseuds/sonictrowel
Summary: The Doctor’s confidence had already begun to fade by the time the TARDIS brakes fell silent.  As the door creaked open, dread pooled in his gut, a cold, sickening feeling spreading through him.  Once, he’d loved the warm smell of polished wood, dust and old books.  He had only somewhat recently, in his office at the university, begun to be able to tolerate it again without going into a panic.  Now, it made his stomach churn and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.





	Saved

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, definitely make sure you're all caught up before reading! :)

 

The Doctor’s confidence had already begun to fade by the time the TARDIS brakes fell silent.  As the door creaked open, dread pooled in his gut, a cold, sickening feeling spreading through him.  Once, he’d loved the warm smell of polished wood, dust and old books.  He had only somewhat recently, in his office at the university, begun to be able to tolerate it again without going into a panic.  Now, it made his stomach churn and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.  

“Any idea how long these memories are going to last?” the Fop choked as he stepped out behind him.  

The Doctor glanced back; his younger self looked as pale and nauseated as he felt.

“Could do without the flashbacks,” he mumbled, grimacing.

“Sorry,” the Doctor said, laying a sympathetic, slightly-glowing hand on the Fop’s shoulder.  “I know they’re not permanent, but don’t know how long.”

“That woman in the Matrix.  Who do you—”

“I don’t want to guess,” the Doctor answered quickly, as they carefully advanced through the little shop. _“After_ this we can guess.”

“She said she’d… let them know we’re coming.  Do you think she did something?”

“I hope so,” the Doctor said, “because after all these fucking centuries of waiting, here we are just bloody winging it.”

“Bound to happen, really.  We do most of our best work that way.”

“Yeah, I don’t know why I’m surprised.”

It was daylight, thankfully, but the Library was still host to plenty of deep shadows.  They made their way to the gravity platform at the centre, careful not to step out of the light.

“So, if this works…” the Fop said as the platform opened up, “is it going to be... strange, that we’re both here?”

A fond, amused little smile pulled at the Doctor’s lips.  God, how he missed her, his bad girl.  “What, those memories already wearing off?  I know exactly what River’s going to say.”  

His stomach did a little flip as the words came out of his mouth.  River.  Here.  Saying things.  Alive.  Oh, he had to be wary of hope.

“Maybe they are wearing off, a bit,” said the younger Doctor.  “Some of it’s getting sort of... farther from the surface.”  He paused thoughtfully for a moment, then suddenly laughed.  “Oh, right.  Should have expected that, really.”

He paused again.  “...Er, we didn’t actually ever…?”

The Doctor coughed, his ears beginning to burn.  “I think we should probably stay focussed on the problem at hand, don’t you?”

“Uh, right.  Yep.”

It was altogether too quiet, even with the humming of the gravity field.

“I’m... glad I didn’t have to come here alone, though,” the Doctor muttered.  “Well— you know what I mean.”

“Yes, I do,” said the Fop.  “Well, happy to help.  I couldn’t just stay home and do nothing when she… you know.”

“Yeah.”

The platform came to a stop, and together they followed the corridor, beneath the crackling energy of the data core, to the main computer.

The dread and fear and hope were an oppressive force, crushing the air from the Doctor’s lungs.  He hoped he wasn’t actually shaking quite as much as it felt like he was.

“Pretty dark down here,” the Fop observed uneasily.  

Right.  That ought to be a concern as well.  But the Doctor was really finding the mortal peril bit difficult to focus on.

“Look,” he whispered, as the panel of the main computer came into view.

River’s screwdriver.  It was still plugged into the port.  Well, he supposed, it stood to reason.  No one had been here since, except for Nardole, snatching up her diary.

Oh, poor Nardole.  After all this, he’d figure something out.   _They’d_ figure something out.

He hoped.

He reached out with a trembling, still-glowing hand.  His fingertips just brushed over the screwdriver, hesitantly.  A little tendril of golden energy escaped before he could force it back, drifting out and curling round the handle.  The port instantly lit up with a brilliant red light.

“Oh,” he said.

“Oh?” the Fop repeated.

“You got Missy in there?” the Doctor asked, tapping his own head.

“I’ve been... trying not to look at that one too much.  Already saw the end.”

“I know.  Sorry.  Well, she theorised that the Hazandra needed a different power source.  Since I’m…” he struggled to find a phrase that didn’t admit to his imminent regeneration, which he _still_ did not accept—  “...externalising energy, at the moment… maybe it can convert it into something CAL can use!”

“Is that safe, for you?” the Fop asked incredulously.  “Exactly how much have you got left?”

“Don’t know; really don’t care,” the Doctor laughed, watching with mounting anticipation as threads of energy spiralled round the screwdriver and into the glowing red port.

 _“She’ll_ care.  She’ll kill me if I let you kill yourself!”

“It’s fine, I’m fine!  Honestly, not dying, it’s kind of my main thing!  In spite of my best efforts, even.”

“Oh, that makes me feel _loads_ better,” the Fop groaned.  “Listen to me, ...me.  I have had just about enough of talking you off the ledge today.  We’re here, right?  We’re fixing this!  And _I_ don’t get to remember any of it.  When this is over, I go back to having no… no _idea_ what I’m missing.  You?  You actually get to keep them!  So don’t you dare throw away our chance to actually have a life with our family!  River won’t thank you for being an idiot.  Let’s just figure this out before you burn up every regeneration you’ve got left!”

“That’s what River did for us!”

“And don’t you wish she didn’t?!” he demanded.

The Doctor hesitated, and before he could formulate a response, something caught his attention.

“Do… you hear something?”

They listened in silence, aside from the whirring thrum of energy moving from his hand into the Hazandra.

It was faint, distant, but unmistakably a voice, calling out up in the main library.

“How can there be someone here?!” the Fop hissed.

“I’ve no idea,” the Doctor replied, “but they’re about to be dinner if we don’t grab them first.”

“Right,” the young Doctor said, turning back toward the corridor to the platform.  He paused.  “Aren’t you coming?”

“I’m sure you can handle it,” the Doctor said.  “I’d better stay here.  I promise, I won’t overdo it with the regeneration energy.  This, this is barely a drop.  A soupçon.  Wouldn’t charge a mobile phone.  I’m just… experimenting.”

“Famous last words,” the Fop replied wearily, but he didn’t hesitate any longer, taking off down the corridor.  If he had all of the Doctor’s memories, he knew exactly how much danger their mysterious interloper was in.

And then the Doctor was alone— well, even more so than before— and there was one obvious thing to do, but he was too goddamn terrified to do it.

In the next room, the access terminal was waiting.  All he had to do was turn it on.  Turn it on and find his wife and daughter safe and sound, or see that something had gone horribly wrong; that he’d made some misstep along the way, and they were lost forever.

He didn’t even know if Athena… Anita… would have made it into the data core.  He had only the desperate hope that when his future self sent those neural relays, it had been with this in mind.  That somehow he’d figured out— _would_ figure out a way.

Or, maybe, she was gone.  Maybe, somehow, they both were gone.  If he turned it on, if he looked, he’d know.  He’d know and it would be written and there’d be no going back.

The silence was palpable, without his other self here.  The silence and the dark, ever slowly encroaching.

He looked over his shoulder.  On the main command node, the face of Charlotte slept peacefully.  Suddenly, Lux’s voice echoed out of his memories.

_“This is only half a life, of course, but it’s forever.”_

No.  

Resolve gripped him once more.  He would _not_ have that.  Not for River, not for Athena.  He wouldn’t abandon them to that fate because of his cowardice.

Carefully, he withdrew his hand from River’s sonic and concentrated on directing the channel of energy back inward.  It was getting harder and harder to do.

He could hear footsteps approaching.  Two sets, that was good; he’d made it back with their guest.  Running… whether that was good was debatable.  But you couldn’t run from the Vashta Nerada.

“Is he here?” a voice echoed in the corridor.

The Doctor froze, his hearts suddenly pounding.

 _“Bill?”_ he breathed.

“Doctor!”

Before he knew it he was running too, running toward an impossible, ridiculous miracle.  She threw her arms around his neck and she was _real,_ she was Bill again, and it was _impossible,_ and he was laughing deliriously and lifting her off the ground.

“I knew you weren’t dead!” she cried.

“I— I wish I could say the same, but I’m afraid you’ve surprised me again,” he said, hoarse with laughter, and definitely not tears.  “How the hell did this happen?!”

“It was Heather!”  She grinned as he set her down.   “She came back for me and she… well.  Look.”  She held out her hands, which were suddenly dripping, yet none of the water seemed to pool on the floor.  “I’m like her now, whatever that is.  But it doesn’t matter, cause I’m me again.”

“Oh, Bill,” he said, _definitely_ not crying, “you’re always you.  No matter what anyone’s done to you, they could never take that away.  You’re too strong.  You’re too… Bill.”

They grinned at each other, and the Doctor suddenly remembered: Milly knew Bill.  Bill wasn’t dead.  

Maybe that future wasn’t lost after all.

“What’s going on with _your_ hands, by the way?” she asked, glancing pointedly at his glowing palms.  “You put on a show for somebody again and couldn’t switch it off?"

“Uh, yeah, something like that.”

“What’re you doing here, anyway?” she asked, taking in their unusual surroundings.

“If you’re any indication, Bill, possibly having the best day of my lives.  What are _you_ doing here?”

“Well, there was this red light all of a sudden, and it just seemed sort of… I dunno, inviting.  Heather said I should follow it.  I can go anywhere, now, any time; don’t even need the TARDIS.”

“Well, don’t tell _her_ that.”

She laughed.  “And your friend found me up in the little shop—”

“Oh!” the Doctor finally remembered the existence of the Fop, who’d been quietly waiting a few paces back.  He waved him over hurriedly.

“Bill, this is, um, me.  Me, meet Bill Potts.”

Judging by the smile on his face, he didn’t need the introduction.

“So glad to see you’re back to yourself, Bill.”

“Wait, _seriously?_   _You’re_ him?  This is one of those, body-switching, regenerator things?  You really weren’t having me on about that?”

“Bill, you’ve just changed from a Cyberman into a, a puddle person.  Is it really that much of a stretch?”

“Yeah... guess not, when you put it like that.  But are there supposed to be two of you at the same time?”

“Um, no, not really.  But, you know.  A thing happened.”

“‘Things’ happen more often than you’d think, actually,” the Fop mused.

“So, you just thought you’d take yourself out to the creepy basement of a big, creepy, empty space library?  No, never mind, ’course you did.  Is there some kind of man-eating sci-fi monster down here too?”

The Doctors exchanged a look.

“Yeahhh, I’m just gonna stop talkin’.”

“Bill,” the Doctor said, hope fluttering ever more desperately in his chest, “you said Heather… changed you.  Made you the same as her. _How?”_

“I… I think I died.  I think the _Cyberman_ died.  But then I was me again, and I was alive.  Just, _pop,_ and I was there.  What did she say… ‘it’s all just atoms, you can rearrange them any way you like.’  Said she could even make me human again, if I wanted.  But, well, I’m not really sure yet if I do."

“And right now, _you_ can do those things, too.”

“Er, well, yeah, I guess I could.  Haven’t really thought about it.”

His voice shook only a little as he asked, “Want to give it a go?”

___

“So… let me get this straight.  You’ve got a magic rock in one of your magic wands, which is plugged into this computer, which is actually a little girl, and your magic rock brought _me_ here cause your family’s stuck in the hard drive?”

“Well,” the Fop said, “it’s not _magic_ —”

“No, but, good enough, basically, yeah, magic rock,” the Doctor cut in.  “A genie-ish, granting wishes rock.  But there’s some things it can’t do, so instead it found someone who could.  Instead it brought us you.”

“And you really think I can do this?”

“Bill, I think at this point I’d be a fool to assume there’s anything you can’t do.”

She tried to stifle a bashful smile.  “Alright, so, uh…. _what_ do I do?”

There was a pause.

“Maybe we should talk to the little girl first,” Bill said, “seeing as she’s… well… all of this.”

“That’s an idea,” the Doctor said.  “We’ll just have to wake her up.”

“Voice activated, isn’t it?” the Fop asked.  “Er... main command node on.  You’ve some company here, Charlotte.”

She opened her eyes and smiled at them.

“Ohhhkay, now that is really unsettling,” said Bill.

“Nah, she’s brilliant,” said the Doctor.  “She’s very clever.  Clever enough that she saved over four thousand people here when the Vashta Nerada hatched.”

“The what?”

“Ah... don’t worry about that for now.  Just, stay close.”

“Oh, that is never good.”

“It would certainly behoove us to try to make this quick,” said the Fop.

“Er, hello, Charlotte,” Bill said.  “I’m Bill, and these are… the Doctor.  You know him, don’t you?”

“Different one,” the Doctor whispered.

“What, _another one?!”_

“Hello, Bill,” Charlotte said.  “The Doctors are expected.”

“Are we?” the older Doctor asked.

“That Matrix woman did say she phoned them,” said the Fop.

“You’re here for the five people I saved.”

 _“Five?”_ Bill echoed.  “You didn’t say anything about five!”

“Oh, oh, oh!" the Doctor breathed, "Charlotte, you saved them all, didn’t you?  The whole team!  Clever girl!  And that means... you’ve got Athena.”  The relief that suddenly washed over him was enough to make him dizzy.  “I, I mean, Anita.  Anita and River, they’re both there?”

Charlotte smiled.

The younger Doctor laughed, looking exactly as thrilled and relieved as the Doctor felt.

“I don’t suppose you’ve got any helpful hints as well?” Bill asked.

“There is a message for Bill Potts,” Charlotte said.  “‘Use the red setting.’”

“What’s that?” she asked, looking to the Doctor.

“The screwdriver,” he said.  “Magic wand, magic rock, magic Bill.”

She snorted.  “Well, I’ll do my best.”

She turned to the computer and, with one more glance over her shoulder in search of Charlotte’s reassurance, pulled the screwdriver out of the port.  The red light in the bulb shone like a tiny star in the dim room.

 _“Oh,”_ Bill said, wide-eyed.  “I… I don’t think they’re in the computer anymore.  I think they’re all in here.  I can... see them.  I can see how to put them together.  Like Heather said.  Just atoms, just… the same mix of stardust and honey and hope as everything else that ever lived.”  She blinked.  “I don’t think that last bit was me.”

“Alright, Bill?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah— yeah, it’s weird but… I think I can do it.  These three, they’re easy.  Just need to put the bits together.”

The red light from the Hazandra grew so bright the Doctor had to cover his eyes, and when he opened them again, there were three more people in the room.

Miss Evangelista and the Daves wavered for a moment, like heat haze over tarmac baking in the sun, and then were solid.

His hearts pounding, the Doctor rejoiced for about half a second while they burst to life and clamoured about their sudden corporeality, before ignoring them entirely.  It was certainly rude of him, but, priorities.

“Bill,” he said quietly, stepping closer to her, “can you see them?”

“Yeah, I can.  They’re not human.  They’ve got… more going on.”

“I know.  Anything I can do?”

“They’re not the same, either.  Not quite.”

The Fop had come closer too, into their tense little bubble of hope and fear, the sounds of their new companions excitedly shouting fading into white noise.

“River’s got one less heart, and… I think most of the rest should be the same, really,” he said.

“No, there’s… there’s this great big, sort of glowing _thing,_ and it’s only in one of them.”

“This sort of thing?” the Doctor asked, lifting his hand.

“Oh, yes!  That’s it!  Want me to put it back?”

 _“What?”_ both Doctors said at once.

“I can see where it… goes.  There’s sort of, a spot for it that’s empty.”

“And you can just  _make_ regeneration energy?” the Doctor asked.  “Out of nowhere?  You don’t have to take it from somewhere else?”

“It’s… hard to say what’s me and what’s the, uh, magic wand," she said.  "But I can see what it’s meant to be like… sort of like the TARDIS and the Vortex.  Been there a lot recently.  So I’ll just… move things round a bit.”

“Okay,” the Doctor said, but no sound came out when he moved his lips, so he cleared his throat and tried again.  “Okay, if you think you can.”

 

He tried, he _really_ tried not to cover his eyes, but the red light that filled the room was blinding.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> (Does it bother me that I decided River had 1 heart for this fic based on deleted dialogue from the Name of the Doctor before Doom Coalition 4 finally said she had 2? Yes, it does, but I've committed to it for way too long now.)
> 
> Thank you so much, everyone reading and commenting, you are my raison d'être. We're maybe not as close to the end as this chapter might suggest; the Song family has some more business to wrap up. But we are close!!


End file.
